The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-06-04

vain TOT q tree or shrub or q Testtul spot,
until we reach Union Square, Sixty
years ago my maternal uncle lived away
out OF town IN the summer and had his
country residence Of the headof theplace
now known as Union Square, It Is one
OF the most enjoyable places In and
about this city, Thousands OF people
use II every day, resting upon its shady
benches, ayailing themselves Of its physl.
cal colyeniences OF every sort and kind,
disturbed u night only by the every
coTnerseaIching glare Of the electric
light, Union Square has a number Of
very beautiful trees, and one or two beds
Of Towering shrubs. There Is come pre-.
tense Of care about It, and its fountain IL
suggestive Of GOODNESS and Tefreshment
to the poor tFamps, the school children,
the flirting policeman and the coy cham
bermaids who make II their place Of daily
resort, There, too, we begin to find eyi.
dences Of civilization in the guise Of
statues,
There Is nothing, you willremember, on
the Battery In the bronze, iron or stone
line except the stone barge,house and the
iron pillars of the elevated railroad,
Neither Is there anything In the City
Hall Park graceful or suggestive Of art
or science In any department, Some
years ago q foolhardy fellow set up a
freestone statue Of Washington in the
City Hall Parki but, when ornamented
by spit'balls In It's eyes and the greater
portion Of lis nose knocked of, II became
such an unmitigated guy that our city
fathers sagely concluded to relegate II TO
q c%ongenial stone yard, In and about
Union Square are the equestrian statue
OF Washington, q statue Of Lafayette,
and the mammoth Disagreement statue
Of Abraham Lincoln.
Come along, We have plenty OF places
yet to visit, Never mind hOisting your
umbrella, II won't shield you frbm the
pitiless rays OF the sun, for there Is no
shade OF any sort or kind. There is not
q tree from Union Square all the way
up the broad sidewalks shining and
shimmering and gllstening in the broad
sweltering OF this boiling sun,
Here we are at Madison Square, byday
beautiful, at night o scene of picturesqe'
ness unequaled In this city. Its paths
are multitudinous, broad and charmlngly
shaded by widespreading trees Of sturdy
growth. There arc many benches there,
Children play there by Thousands; nurses
guard them by hundreds and, although
the unkempt tramp and the slimly dis,
guised loafer are now and then TO be de.
tected here and there, the park police arc
gallant enough to protect the servant
girls, and the little children know whom
TO run 10 In time Of alarm. AT the lower
end Is q most ridiculous efigy Of William
II. Seward sitting In modern garb In a
most comfortable position, Admiral
Farragut Is represented as preaching
from q pulpltor directing the manpuyres
OF q fleet from the bow Of o vessel,
according 10 the imagination OF iafor.
nation OF tho spectator.
Twenty or thirty years ago Q monu.
ment was erected to General Worth, Of
Mexican war notoriety, and, under the
Impression that 1t was put SO far uptown
that nobody would ever sec II, there was
but little opposition to Its erection at the
upper end Of Madison Square, Here,
too, for q year or more, was placed the
mammoth hand ofthe extraordinary gift
from France to America, the statue Of
Liberty, for which the pedestal was long
since provided.
Elegant drinking fountains have been
senthere, giftsofprivate benetlcence, and,
In fact, Madison Square by reason OF its
inherent beauty, It's superb rows Of trees
and Its surroundings, may be considered
one of.our most delightful and enjoyable
breathing places. At night when the
electric light falls full upon the marble
fronts Of the Fiith.avenue Hotel, the
Albemarle and the Hoffman House, and
upon the facades Of elegant residences
on Twenty.thlrd street and Madison
avenue and Twenty.sixth streets, the 70.
nance and weirdness Of the picture arc
singularlysuggestiye andworthy hepen
or pencilof the choicest artist,
Ineed not tell you about Central Park,
save to call attention to o development
made notable during the past few years,
viz, tho erection Of costly and magnif-
cent fiat houses on every available lot Of
ground within an eighth Of o mile OF the
park itself. The park Is In It's glory now,
and It's beauties and comforts arc en-
joyed every day In all this season by
many scores OF thousands Of people.
Beyond the park Is a variety Of de-
lightful resorts, chief Of which Is High
bridge, where every day in every week
go from eight to ten thousand people,
while on Sundays the police report from
twenty TO forty thousand men, women
and children as regularly as tho sunshine
permits a trip up the river or aride upon
tho elevated road, HOWARD.